TORONTO – Game 6 of the 2015 American League Championship Series was tied 3-3 when the Toronto Blue Jays handed the ball to Roberto Osuna in the bottom of the eighth inning. They’d just drawn level with the Kansas City Royals on Jose Bautista’s second homer of the night, and after coming out of a rain delay, believing their then-20-year-old closer was the best option for a quick zero.
Instead, the speedy Lorenzo Cain worked a leadoff walk, and when Eric Hosmer dunked a ball down the right-field line, he turned for home as Bautista relayed the ball back to the infield, scoring what turned out to be the series’ decisive run.
Gutting as it was, the Blue Jays at the time felt they went down with their best available pitcher on the mound, and it’s worth remembering that result after perhaps the club’s most consequential in-game pitching decision since then blew up during the eighth inning of Friday’s 6-2 loss to the Seattle Mariners.
The polarizing call to start the fateful five-run frame with Brendon Little rather than closer Jeff Hoffman or set-up man Seranthony Dominguez — who took over after the lefty gave up Cal Raleigh’s tying solo shot and two walks only to surrender Eugenio Suarez’s grand slam — was based on the Blue Jays’ matching what they felt was the best profile to navigate a pocket of elite hitters.
They could have, instead, simply trusted Hoffman or Dominguez, their two best relievers, in the highest of leverage, and how long — and how hotly — that’s debated depends on whether they can rally to win the ALCS in seven or not.
Still, the way Game 6 of the 2015 ALCS played out is a good reminder that even making the quote-unquote best or right decision can still produce the wrong outcome, because baseball is as cruel as it is capricious.
After all, the Blue Jays could have ended up with a similar result had they used Hoffman or Dominguez, or they could have escaped the eighth and not the ninth, or they could have won a third straight game out west.
We’ll never know, the most significant of thousands of “what-ifs” a manager must process over the course of a season.
“It’s part of the job,” Schneider said Saturday. “Every decision you make that doesn’t work out, I regret, you know what I mean? No matter who it is. Whether it’s a hitter, a pinch-hitter, a pitcher, a starting pitcher, it’s part of the job. There are what-ifs always in this game. I think that you learn from them. You trust your people around you when you are making decisions. You make them and you move on. That’s where I’m at with it.
“It sucks. We still took two out of three there. We got the series back here. We’re excited to play here in front of our fans,” he continued. “But there are what-ifs from Day 1 of spring training. Did we schedule this meeting too early? Did we not, whatever it is. There are always what-ifs, but it’s part of the job and you move on and get ready for tomorrow.”
Of course, the scrutiny and tension around each such decision rise as the stakes go up in the post-season, creating the possibility of an enduring what-if for a franchise, and the Blue Jays have been on the other side of the equation, too.
In the 2016 wild-card game, they created a lasting lament for the Baltimore Orioles when Edwin Encarnacion hit a walk-off homer in the 11th inning against Ubaldo Jimenez, while Cy Young-calibre closer Zach Britton idled in the bullpen.
There are no guarantees that Britton would have prevented that loss just as Osuna didn’t in 2015. The beauty of baseball is that you can never really know, even if you can be second-guessed forever.
“I trust my players. In hindsight, I had a couple other options. That’s what I decided to do,” Schneider replied when asked if he felt he made a mistake in the eighth. “I have all the information that I need, and I don’t think I made a mistake. Players have to go perform. There is always risk when you put a player in a situation that he won’t get the job done. That’s part of the game. But I stick by my players, I stick by my decision, I leave them behind me. I’ve learned that over the years. I’m totally focused on the game tomorrow.”
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Watch the Blue Jays in the ALCS on Sportsnet
The Toronto Blue Jays will face the Seattle Mariners in Game 6 of the ALCS on Sunday at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT. Catch the game on Sportsnet or Sportsnet+.
Springer improving: Some positive news on George Springer from manager John Schneider, who said Saturday his star slugger was “feeling a lot better than he did” after taking a 95.6 m.p.h. fastball off the right kneecap during Game 5.
The initial diagnosis of no fracture, revealed by an X-ray in Seattle, was confirmed via CT Scan in Toronto, and Springer spent Saturday receiving treatment and doing some light work.
Deliberations over his status for Game 6 will continue into Sunday, with the decision coming down to Springer “telling me he’s good to go and he’s good to go,” said Schneider. “George has played through a lot, probably more than you guys know this year, but over the course of his career, too. So just make sure that it’s not bothering him when swinging and not bothering him when running. But he’s a tough dude, so I’m hopeful and optimistic that he’ll be good to go.”
Springer’s uncertainty underlines the attrition wearing down the Blue Jays, who have been without Bo Bichette since early September, and Thursday subbed out Anthony Santander after lumbar spine inflammation ended his crash-course return from a shoulder injury.
That allowed the Blue Jays to add outfielder Joey Loperfido, whom Schneider considered starting in Game 5 and may become a more important factor depending on what happens with Springer.
Loperfido described the opportunity to join the active roster as “exciting,” adding that “growing up watching the post-season was a big part of my why for why I wanted to play baseball.”
“It’s hard sitting on the bench and not being a part of it,” he added. “I feel like the way we’ve kept the taxi squad guys ready is for this reason, exactly. Did my best to stay ready, and all it takes is one moment to make it all worth it.”
Loperfido has remained with the Blue Jays throughout the post-season, doing his usual daily routine, which includes lifting and early hitting on the field with Davis Schneider, Myles Straw and Isiah Kiner-Falefa “to see the ball flight.”
“That way when you get on the field,” he continued, “you have some visuals of what you’re going to face that night pitch-shape wise and how you handled it.”
Santander sits: Anthony Santander’s back hadn’t yet fully loosened after being scratched from Game 2 of the ALCS, but he’d regained enough mobility to both start and be moved up into the cleanup spot for Game 3. Once he scored from second on an Ernie Clement single, though, that was the final straw. He didn’t return to the field and was subbed out the next day after his back was so stiff the next morning, he needed help getting out of bed and dressing.
“I couldn’t sleep at all, even after all the treatment here,” he said. “Unfortunately, it was so painful. I got here (Thursday), and we tried more treatmen,t but this was the best decision for the team.”
Players subbed out during a post-season series must also miss the next round, meaning the decision ended his season, capping a difficult first year with the Blue Jays after signing a $92.5-million, five-year deal as a free agent in January. He played in just 54 games after suffering a left shoulder subluxation while crashing into a wall chasing a fly ball, batting .175/.271/.294 with six homers and 18 RBIs. In the post-season he had three hits, two RBIs and one run scored in five games.
Playing in Game 3, “you understand that you’re not 100 per cent, but you can still give 100 per cent of what you’ve got that day,” he said, but added that being subbed out is “the worst part because as an athlete you want to be in there, but also understand that I’m not 100 per cent and the team is doing a really good job of winning games. I’m happy my teammates are doing the job, and we’re closer to the World Series. That’s more important. This game is not individual, it’s a team game and I’m a part of the team.”
Dodgers await: After watching Shohei Ohtani’s epic three-homer, six-inning, 10-strikeout tour de force Friday night that helped complete a four-game sweep of the Milwaukee Brewers in the National League Championship Series, the Los Angeles Dodgers can get some rest while the Blue Jays and Mariners decide who faces them.
Game 1 of the World Series is scheduled for Friday, giving them a week to line themselves up for a run at becoming the first repeat champion since the New York Yankees won three straight between 1998-2000.
“I do see it as a positive in terms of being able to rest, both as a position player and as a pitcher. We’ve had some off days, but we’ve played some very meaningful games that were very stressful,” Ohtani told reporters in Los Angeles after the win. “I think it’s going to be really important for us to be able to have that kind of game edge and to be able to maintain it throughout this week.”
Based on regular-season wins, the Blue Jays (94) would have home-field advantage if they advance to the World Series, while the Dodgers (93) have priority over the Mariners (90).
